The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams will tangle at O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis Friday night, site of the Power Stroke Diesel 200, race No. 14 of 25 on the NCTS calendar this season. ORP is a place where the truck drivers definitely don't play nice together, a claustrophobic 0.686-mile oval where the trucks will be bumping and grinding all race long. If nothing else, Friday night's battle ought to shuffle the points standings again.
If recent history is any indication, the driver to watch for on Friday night will be Ron Hornaday Jr., the defending series champion and defending race winner. Hornaday's teammate at Kevin Harvick Inc., Jack Sprague, is also a two-time ORP Truck winner, and his American Commercial Lines No. 2 Chevy ought to run well on Friday night.
The other two-time ORP NCTS winner in the field Friday will be the Toyota Tundra-sponsored No. 5 of Mike Skinner, who is fifth in points and has a streak of nine consecutive top-10 finishes. And his Bill Davis Racing teammates, Johnny Benson and Michael Annett are coming off a 1-2 finish last week at Kentucky Speedway. Wyler.com Toyota driver Terry Cook, who has quietly moved to seventh in points, has one victory and one runner-up finish each at ORP, though his last top-five came here in 2002.
Anytime the NCTS Series races at ORP, Rick Crawford and the Power Stroke by Diesel International Ford F-150 are threats to win.
Don't count out short-track ace Dennis Setzer, either.
Add it all up, and it should be a wide-open — and very physical — battle on Friday night. Qualifying is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. EDT Friday, with the race set for 8 p.m. that evening. Both will be televised live on SPEED.
Ron Hornaday was marvelous, simply marvelous. He had the best truck tonight. And tonight the best truck won the race. Hornaday took his new sponsor Camping World to victory lane on their first outing with him. Somewhere on a lake near Charlotte they are having a big bonfire, camp out and celebration party tonight.
By Jenna Fryer, The Associated Press May 19, 2007 12:23 AM EDT
CONCORD, N.C. -- Ron Hornaday Jr. passed A.J. Allmendinger with 36 laps to go, then held on for two restarts to win the Craftsman Truck Series race at Lowe's Motor Speedway on Friday night. It was Hornaday's 30th career Truck Series victory, but the first at LMS. Hornaday, driving for Kevin Harvick Inc., also scored the first win of the season for Chevrolet after Toyotas won four of the first five events.
Kernersville, N.C. (May 14, 2007) – Beginning with the Quaker Steak and Lube 200, Bowling Green, Ky., based Camping World will become the primary sponsor of Ron Hornaday’s No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado for the remainder of the 2007 season. Camping World has been affiliated with Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI), since the early part of 2007, originally signing on to sponsor a select number of races with KHI’s No. 33 Busch and No. 2 Truck Series programs. Kevin Harvick, co-owner and CEO of Kevin Harvick Inc., stated “I am thrilled that Camping World decided to expand their involvement with KHI and join the No. 33 truck team. The combination of Ron Hornaday and Rick Ren has been fun to watch this season in their bid for the Truck Series championship. Now that Camping World is a part of that program, I feel like we’ve got a winning combination both on and off the track.” “Our experience with the No. 2 Camping World truck and the KHI bunch has been outstanding,” said Marcus Lemonis, Camping World President and CEO. We’re looking forward to riding along with Ron as he makes a run for his third NASCAR Truck Series championship in the No. 33 Silverado.”
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